Prince Andrew to settle sex abuse case, donate to charity

Britain's Prince Andrew, accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl supplied to him by financier Jeffrey Epstein, has agreed to settle by making a substantial donation to his accuser's charity and declaring he never meant to malign her character, a court filing revealed Tuesday.

The deal avoids a trial that would have brought further embarrassment to the monarchy. Besides the undisclosed donation to Virginia Giuffre's charity, it says Andrew acknowledges she has suffered as an abuse victim. It did not specify whether Giuffre would personally receive money as part of the settlement.

Attorney David Boies, representing Giuffre, told the New York federal judge overseeing the case in a letter that a settlement in principle had been reached and lawyers on both sides would request a dismissal of the lawsuit within a month.
Andrew's lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said he would suspend the case until March 17, when he might set a trial date if the lawyers don't ask for a dismissal by then.

Giuffre, 38, sued Andrew in August. The American accused the British royal of sexually abusing her while she traveled with Epstein.

Andrew strenuously denied Giuffre's allegations and attempted to get the lawsuit tossed earlier this year.

Attached to the letter from Boies was a statement that read: "Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement. The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms. Giuffre's receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed)."

"Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights. Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre...